It is disappointing but want to move on: Anand

Viswanathan Anand termed the controversy over his nationality as disappointing but said he does not want to stretch the issue too far.

Written by Press Trust of India

Read Time: 2 mins

New Delhi :

World Chess Champion Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand on Tuesday termed the controversy over his nationality as disappointing but said he does not want to stretch the issue too far and would prefer to move on.

"When the whole thing came about it was disappointing but I think by now I understand that these are bureaucratic things which happen and you can see the funny side of it. The silver lining is that people now know that I am really an Indian completely," Anand told TV channels.

Anand today found himself embroiled in a row after the University of Hyderabad delayed its plan to confer an honorary doctorate on him following questions raised by the Union Human Resources Development Ministry over his nationality.

"I have often trained in Spain but I never gave away my citizenship. That's always been clear. So I don't really know why this came up especially after we clarified the matter," he said.

"I don't want to analyse this too much. The mistake happened, the minister has apologised. I think we should leave it at that. I think we should move on," he added.

The four-time world champion Indian said he decided to decline the doctorate for now simply because he was busy and wanted to have a proper ceremony.

"I accepted the minister's apology. There was no issue in that. It was just that the day was simply filled up.

"Actually the main reason I came to Hyderabad was for this simultaneous chess game. I had to focus on my commitments here and then it looked like it would be a rushed ceremony so I thought we should do it properly sometime later. So, I will accept the doctorate in due course of time," Anand said.